The use of ponds as a decorative landscape feature is becoming increasingly popular. One of the desirable features of such a pond is the ability to view fish and plants therein, as well as a clean and attractive bottom. It is also desirable to provide an environmentally friendly system which may attract various animals and insects. Thus, clear water is a desirable feature. But the viewability can be hampered by cloudy water which in many cases is caused by excess algae buildup. This buildup may be the result of excess nutrients, such as total nitrogen and phosphorus, beyond acceptable levels which may be caused by animal waste products, fertilizer run off, chemical additions and the like.
Chemicals such as chlorine or copper based compounds can be added to the pond to control the nutrient level or to destroy the algae. But these chemicals could adversely impact the plants and fish, tend to break down rapidly, require repeated applications, may be expensive and may require extensive balancing to assure the proper water chemistry.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to control the clarity of decorative pond water without reliance on chemical additives.
Filtration systems, which may include a skimmer system, have been employed to remove leaves and other matter that may fall onto the pond surface. However, such matter may fall to the pond bottom to form sediment or break up into particulate matter which may be suspended or also form sediment. These filters act to skim the surface matter and may remove some of the nutrients and particulate matter.
However, it is desirable to more effectively remove nutrients, particulate matter and sediment so as to enhance the viewability.
The use of natural processes of the type associated with wetlands, where aquatic plants utilize and/or remove nutrients is desirable. Various processes have been suggested by which these plants bioaccumulate and remove the nutrients that directly or indirectly degrade the water quality. Wetlands occur in nature and are used to cleanse lake and river water. Recently, constructed wetland features have come into use.
Thus, it is another object to employ a constructed wetlands feature with a decorative pond system to enhance viewability.
These and other objects will become apparent from the following description and appended claims.